Hotel Indigo Leeds
“Welcome to my neighbourhood” were the first words we heard as we checked into Hotel Indigo in Leeds, one of my favourite UK cities and as receptionist Bradley uttered those four words, I felt instantly- well, welcomed….
Leeds is a vibrant, diverse city with impressive high streets and shopping arcades, as well as an array of food quarters and well-known brands dotted about the city centre to visit and enjoy, so when I was invited to visit Hotel Indigo for the first time, I was excited to return to Leeds, having been a few years. The city was just as I had remembered it and I was delighted to see that the high street, shopping centres and hospitality industry there was still thriving.
After partaking in a few hours of shopping, we headed for a pit stop at a local Wine Bar on the Granary Wharf for a cheeky glass of rose English sparkling wine and a few small plates, saving room for later, as dinner was booked in our hotel for 8pm.
Following our smooth and friendly check in with Bradley, we headed to our room on the top floor, which turned out to be one of the Kings Suites- a very good sized room with a large king sized bed, seating area, large screen TV, tea/coffee making station, mini fridge with canned water and a modern bathroom featuring a large wet room sized shower and twin sinks. It also offered the useful extras such as an iron and board, a hairdryer and robes with slippers and the highlight was the personalised welcome featuring my name on the TV screen, as well as the handwritten welcome from Manager Simon the on the mirror- a very nice touch.
The view overlooked a railway line and a bar and we were gifted earplugs by our bed, so we thought we might be in for a rough night, however we slept like babies, as the bed was so comfortable, the black out curtains worked a treat and there was literally no noise – this was a Friday night.
We decided to chill in our room for a few hours and even partook in a ‘hotel nap’ something of a luxury for me, but an aspect I very much appreciate when I am away from home.
It was soon time to get ready for dinner and so we headed downstairs to The Banksia Bar & Restaurant – a contemporary bar and grill on the ground floor of the hotel and waited in reception for our table to be ready, as we were a little early. Martin the General Manager came to greet us and showed us to a nice quiet marble style table in the corner, with comfortable seating, overlooking the entire restaurant and as there were two private events taking place at the same time, we welcomed the corner positioning- great for observing and absorbing the atmosphere, but quiet enough to hear each other speak- we even enjoyed some live music later on in the bar, which was an unexpected treat.
We ordered a glass of Merlot and a Prosecco, along with flatbreads and a selection of dips to share whilst we perused the menu, the dips consisted of a beautiful whipped feta, a hummus and a delightful Muhammara – a sweet a smoky dip containing red pepper and walnuts finished with pomegranate molasses and cumin- a distinct flavour and one I could not get enough of, alongside the others. A nice touch was when Martin – without asking, brought over more bread- something you always wish you had!
The menu was a good size and contained plenty of options for all and it was obvious to see that many of the dishes had Mediterranean twists to them, so to begin my dining partner was brave and went for something new to him – the Steak and goats cheese filo rolls and I went with the Roasted cauliflower – a good sized potion served with a very flavoursome soy/balsamic combination sauce.
As a vegetarian, my first instinct is to scan the menu before I go anywhere to determine how many options I have, which ultimately makes my decision for me as to whether I frequent said place. This menu contained several vegetarian options; many I was pleased to see were halloumi based- not just because it is one of my favourite cheeses, but because it offers me a substantial amount of protein too. Options included a halloumi burger, served with chips and onion rings and if anything like what was served to the table adjacent to us, then that was going to be a good choice. There was also a chickpea-based curry up for grabs, a salad option and a halloumi kebab, which in the end is what I opted for. Sadly, to my temporary disappointment when ordering, I was told by our server Holly that they were out of halloumi – “what no!” Holly the fantastic person that she was, must have seen the disappointment on my face and reported it back to Martin the manager, who subsequently did a dash to the shop to buy more halloumi, so that I could have the dish I was hoping for- what a legend!
This is the kind of customer service your can’t predict, but when received makes a huge difference on your experience and I was so grateful for the effort put in to ensure that as a vegetarian I could eat the dish on the menu that I was looking forward to eating- in my experience- especially later on in the evening or when large parties are in, it is common for restaurants to run out of certain dishes and you just accept it and select another, however this kind of personal and thoughtful l service did not go amiss and it honestly made my night.
The halloumi kebabs were delicious, served with roasted vegetables including courgette and aubergine in a sweet chilli sauce and were just the right size, given I had already eaten two courses and had planned dessert- well it would be rude not to right?
Dessert had to be warm sticky toffee pudding served with vanilla ice-cream and tiramisu-no complaints there and they were a welcomed way to complete what was a wonderful four course meal in a stylish restaurant with a brilliant atmosphere.
Bradley, the receptionist made an appearance at dinner and in fact brought us our desserts and we later caught him capturing content for their social media account too and when we commented on this, he jokingly stated he will probably be cleaning our room next! It is clear the team at Hotel Indigo are hardworking professionals- dedicated to their various roles within the company and working together well to make a dream team- something we picked up on through out our stay and so when we were greeted with those four words- “Welcome to my neighbourhood”, we really did feel that they genuinely meant it.
The package we had was for dinner, bed and breakfast, however rooms can be booked separately, as can dinner in the restaurant and it’s worth noting that breakfast is a delicious combination of continental and cooked dishes made to order by the chef in the open kitchen.
*Happy Hour runs every day from 4pm to 6pm with 2-for-1 drinks, as well as their ‘Grinchmas Bottomless Brunch’ on 5th December at £40 per person.
Check out more here- https://www.ihg.com/hotelindigo/hotels/gb/en/leeds/lbalb/hoteldetail
The Sleepy Vegetarian
